Week 8 was a miserable all around performance by the 2013 1st round draft class. I'm starting to come to the conclusion that this class is just not that great overall. The top of the class in particular has just been really disappointing. The highest graded player this week is Cordarrelle Patterson thanks to his electric 109 yard kickoff return. It was just one play, but arguably the best of the class this season. Some of the guys in this class are performing so poorly that merely showing up and having a mediocre game will move you up in the rankings... there are a few guys that stood out this week, though. Here are the updated rankings: 1. Shelden Richardson, DE/DT for the Jets, originally drafted 13th: He stays #1 overall thanks to his huge lead he's built up but this was one of his worst games. He had 2 tackles and was part of a collective no show against the Bengals' offense. His lead isn't as comfortable as it used to be, but he's still firmly the best 1st round pick of the draft for now. 2. Eric Reid, S of 49ers, originally drafted 18th: He moves up one spot to #2 in the rankings after a good game against a horrendous Jaguars' offense. Hard not to have a good game against them, though. He had 8 tackles and a defended pass. He continues to be impressive finding the ball and laying down huge hits. 3. Star Lotulelei, DT of Panthers, originally drafted 14th: He's slowly creeping back up to the top, after rising two spots last week and another spot this week. He had 3 tackles and was positively outstanding against the run. Lotulelei is proving to be a force as a complete player with no real weaknesses. It's no accident he's part of such a dominant Panther defense, the Bucs had no chance. 4. Alec Ogletree, LB of Rams, originally drafted 30th: He's down two spots after a bad game. He had 2 tackles and was poor in coverage particularly. The Rams defense played extremely well overall against the Seahawks, but he personally didn't do much. 5. Kenny Vaccaro, S of Saints, originally drafted 15th: He's up 3 spots and rockets into the top 5. The Saints' safety continues to be the real surprise of this class along with Olgetree. He played in the box a good deal and rewarded the Saints with outstanding run support. He had 4 tackles including two behind the line of scrimmage. He also had a defended pass. The only negative was that he got roasted in man to man coverage against Stevie Johnson for a touchdown. Other than that one negative he was very good again this week. He enters the top 5 for the first time. 6. Desmond Trufant, CB of Falcons, originally drafted 22nd: He drops a spot to make way for Vaccaro. He had a very poor game against the Cardinals where he was flagged twice to hurt his pass defense in a bad loss for the Falcons. He had 4 tackles and a defended pass. 7. Tyler Eifert, TE of Bengals, originally drafted 21st: He's down a spot after a quiet week. 2 catches for 23 yards and poor blocking in a blowout win. 8. DeAndre Hopkins, WR of Texans, originally drafted 27th: He's also down a spot due to Vaccaro's rise. He was on a bye this week. 9. Ziggy Ansah, DE/LB of Lions, originally drafted 5th: After dropping 5 spots last week he stabilized at 9 despite a 2 tackle game where he contributed very little in a miraculous win against the Cowboys. 10. Barkevious Mingo, LB of Browns, originally drafted 6th: Deservingly stays in the top 10 thanks to another sack this week. That's what he does best and he continues to be a nice outside rush threat. 11. Travis Frederick, C of Cowboys, originally drafted 31st: He stays at 11 after a decent game overall. Nothing too notable but he was solid against the Lions and had no major mistakes. 12. Cordarrelle Patterson, WR of Vikings, originally drafted 29th: He's up three spots thanks to his magical 109 kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game against the Packers. That of course ties the NFL record for longest play in history. He showed a nice combination of speed, power and balance on that play. He also contributed 2 catches for 26 yards. That was without a doubt one of the best plays of the season for this 2013 1st round class. 13. Kyle Long, G of Bears, originally drafted 20th: He drops a spot due to Patterson's kick return despite being on a bye this week. 14. D. J. Fluker, T of Chargers, originally drafted 11th: Like Long he dropped a spot despite being on a bye. 15. Matt Elam, S of Ravens, originally drafted 32nd: Also on a bye, also drops a spot. Patterson took advantage of these three guys ahead of him being inactive. 16. Tavon Austin, WR of Rams, originally drafted 8th: He's up a spot despite a mediocre performance. He doesn't seem to have any chemistry with Kellen Clemens, then again who does? He was mediocre on returns and had 2 catches for 9 yards. 17. Xavier Rhodes, CB of the Vikings, originally drafted 25th: He's up a spot despite having a rough time with Aaron Rodgers. He had 7 tackles and a penalty against him. He was good at times and burned at others, a mixed bag against the best passer in the league. He competed well for a rookie, though. 18. Dion Jordan, DE of Dolphins, originally drafted 3rd: He's down two spots as he did absolutely nothing this week. Many people labeled him as a can't miss prospect and I'm really starting to wonder. He's just not playing that well recently. 19. D. J. Hayden, CB of the Raiders, originally drafted 12th: A good week for Hayden who was pretty solid in coverage against the Steelers and the Raiders held them under 20. He had 5 tackles and seems to be on the way up. He's up two spots. 20. Jarvis Jones, LB of the Steelers, originally drafted 17th: He's down a spot as he continues to drop in the rankings. He had 1 tackle and was a non factor against the Raiders. 21. Justin Pugh, G/T of the Giants, originally drafted 19th: He's up two spots after playing a much better game this week. He was flagged twice which tempered what would have otherwise been a very good performance. That's the story of the Giants' year as a whole, though. Even when they play well they make mistakes. 22. Sharrif Floyd, DT of Vikings, originally drafted 23rd: He's down two spots and did absolutely zilch when he was in the game. 23. Chance Warmack, G of the Titans, originally drafted 10th: He was on a bye. 24. Lane Johnson, T of the Eagles, originally drafted 4th: He stays at 24 for the 3rd straight week. This spot is about right for him as he continues to play poorly. He gave up 2 sacks and again was a disaster in pass protection. This has been a rough season for him. 25. E. J. Manuel, QB of Bills, originally drafted 16th: Remains out injured. 26. Datone Jones, DE of Packers, originally drafted 26th: He's lone contribution was a bonehead penalty. He's proving to be a very poor pick by the Packers. 27. Eric Fisher, T of Chiefs, originally drafted 1st: By far the weak link on this undefeated Chiefs team. He continues to struggle in a big way and hold the offense back. Clearly not good enough to have been the top overall pick in my estimation, though it's just 8 games into the season. He had another very bad game all around. 28. Sylvester Williams, DT of Broncos, originally drafted: He was held out with a neck injury and inactive this week. 29. Luke Joeckel, T of the Jaguars, originally drafted 2nd: Out for the year with an injury. He'll continue to drop and likely end the season 31st overall. 30. Dee Milliner, CB of Jets, CB of Jets, originally drafted 8th: He was roasted and torched all game long by Andy Dalton. As good as his defensive 1st round rookie teammate Richardson has been, he's been that bad. 31. Bjoern Werner, DE/LB of Colts, originally drafted 24th: He was out injured again this week but it looks like he may be coming back as soon as this upcoming Sunday. 32. Jonathan Cooper, T of Cardinals, originally drafted 7th: Due to a season long injury, he will occupy this spot all season. Who's Hot: Vaccaro up 3 spots Patterson up 3 spots Hayden up 2 spots Pugh up 2 spots Who's Not: Olgetree down 2 spots Jordan down 2 spots Floyd down 2 spots

You'll
also
receive Yardbarker's daily Top 10, featuring the best sports stories from around the web.
Customize your newsletter to get articles on your favorite sports and teams. And the best part? It's free!